Lemon Tree
DIR: Eran Riklis • WRI: Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis • PRO: Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt, Eran Riklis, Ira Riklis • DOP: Rainer Klausmann • ED: Tova Asher • DES: Miguel Markin • CAST: Hiam Abbass, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael

An Israeli film, The Lemon Tree is set on the border between Israel and the West Bank, where the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Navon (played by Doron Tavory), and his wife Mira (Rona Lipaz-Michael) move to a house next to a lemon grove owned by a poor Palestinian widow, Salma Zidane (played by Hiam Abbass, who appeared in The Visitor earlier this year). For security reasons, it’s decided that the lemon grove must be uprooted. Since the lemon grove is her whole livelihood, and has been in her family for generations, Salma tries to prevent this, ultimately bringing her case to the Supreme Court.

Sympathy comes from different places than one might expect. The Defense Minister’s wife objects to the uprooting (which contrasts with his somewhat lofty refusal to really take on the situation, insisting that it’s all up to the Secret Service), while some of Salma’s fellow Palestinians feel she’s wrong in taking it to court. (They also object to her taking the compensation she’s offered, and pretty much anything else she does or is suspected of doing, while not offering any alternative solutions.)

There’s a sort of romance between the widow and her lawyer, which doesn’t quite come off. There are also so many points where people refer to the attractiveness of the widow, and, not to disparage Ms Abbass, but after a while, it gets a bit repetitive at best. The film is well made generally, with some very arresting images, though a few moments are a little too artful and take you out of the story. It’s at its best when it’s hinting at things. Some of the dialogue is also a bit clichéd, though that may be more of a translation problem than a script problem.

This is an effective film about how war can affect ordinary people. Aside from the odd false note, it’s a gentle and bittersweet film, subtle and even-handed, with no preachiness or sentimentality. It’s based on a true story, and was written by Eran Riklis and Suha Arraf, and directed by Eran Riklis.

Tim Hanan
(Read biog here)

Rated PG (see IFCO website for details)
Lemon Tree is released on 12th December 2008
Lemon Tree – Official website